Pre-Game Pacers

by **dbrown4** Tue Dec 20, 2022 8:37 am

Not to be the pessimistic messenger but until there is a change in current behavior of leading with the 3-ball and telegraphing opponents with our one-sentence playbook, the losses will continue against any and every team. I hope for something different tomorrow, but am expecting another loss. I'm seeing nothing to indicate any change in behavior back to the winning formula.

We will find out how hard Boston's heads are. I hope CJ has figured this out but if we see another repeat performance Wednesday, I'm going to start questioning a few things. Maybe Boston should go ahead and declare CJ head coach. Maybe he's a little miffed at the interim title at this point and it's coming out in his coaching.

Who knows. All I know is human nature took over all the way through. We can't stand prosperity. I'm guilty of it. We're all guilty of it. Whatever you want to call it, it ain't workin' Jack! After a grueling West Coast road trip, losing twice B2B at home against one of the worst teams in the league (and yes they suck even with their current win streak) should be enough of a slap in the face/brick to the head to wake everyone in Boston the Hell up! I'm not even going to call this a slump. This is just simply not seeing the forest for the trees and not minding the ship. Pathetic might work. Nah, hold up on that.

db

by **NYCelt** Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:03 am

I don’t think it’s that bad dbrown. The best teams hit rough streaks.

Let’s see what happens. As Chris Berman says “That’s why they play the games.”

by **dbrown4** Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:23 pm

OK, NYCelt. I agree. I went back and checked the 1985-86 regular season W & L's. There was a streak where we lost 4 of 6...In the month of December of all places!! After that, though, the losses were very few and far between.

Slowly Stepping Back From The Ledge Very Happy

,

db

by **dboss** Tue Dec 20, 2022 2:40 pm

I just looked outside and it is raining but I can declare with a very high degree of certainty that the sky is NOT falling.

The Celtics play the Pacers tomorrow night.

The Pacers have lost 4 out of 5 games. That includes a big win over the GSW. (Loss, Loss, Win, Loss, Loss)

Rick has changed his starting lineups. He has been playing 2 PG (Haliburton and Nembhard) Miles Turner and Buddy Hield are everyday starters. In the last 5 games Aaron Nesmith started 3 times in a small ball lineup and in the other 2 games Jalen Smith has been a starter.

The Pacers average 40 3PA per games and shoot 36.4% on those attempts. They also average 27 assists per game with dynamic PG Haliburton leading the way at 10.7 assists)

Their top bench scorer is SG, Bennedict 'Arnold' Mathurin. He is actually 2nd in scoring on the team at 17.9 PPG.

I want to point out a couple of things.

The Pacers are #1 in fast break points and they are #5 in steals.

This is not going to be an easy game for the Celtics. The Celtics must value the ball and get back on defense in transition. I am sure that we would like to see them get back to moving the basketball better on offense The key to winning this game begins with checking Haliburton.

I think that we should have an advantage on the glass.

Here is a question. Why is it that when one of our guys drives to the rim and misses they always seem to end up on the floor while the other team runs out? Do ya think just because you fell down that the refs are going to call a foul on the other team? For 'crying out loud' stop falling out of bounds. It's Fake.

I am going with the Celtics because they are at home and they need to get back on the winning track. They should have a healthy respect for the Pacers.

by **NYCelt** Tue Dec 20, 2022 3:46 pm

dbrown4 wrote:OK, NYCelt. I agree. I went back and checked the 1985-86 regular season W & L's. There was a streak where we lost 4 of 6...In the month of December of all places!! After that, though, the losses were very few and far between.

Slowly Stepping Back From The Ledge ,

db

Happy to hear that. We don't want anyone stepping off the ledge!

by **bobc33** Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:17 pm

Will be good to see Nesmith! Dude was out of control with us but with consistent playing time, and improved three point shooting, he could become a solid contributor.

by **Ktron** Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:40 pm

I couldn’t begin to tell you what’s happened to this team here lately but it’s nothing to be overly concerned about at this point.
D brown Im pretty sure you were just throwing out the Coach Joe thang bout him being miffed over still being interim but if for some reason there is a bit of truth to it then him being miffed needs to result in him being dismissed.
Coach hasn’t earned the reward of being named head coach yet and won’t be as long as the Ime situation hangs in the balance.
Personally, I question some of his decision making or lack there of.
At this point in the season I don’t trust him enough to feel comfortable that he can lead us to #18. Doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t. It’s just the way I feel at the moment. He may just take us there and win it at least I hope so. Ain’t feeling it today though.
We got the right players so let’s just hope he can coach them through it.

by **dboss** Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:49 pm

Ktron

Coach is still in a learning curve.

I still believe that he needs to call more timeouts when his team is not executing or when the opponent is red hot.

Let's see how the team responds to the current pot hole as well as others that will likely pop up.

At this point I do not know if he can outcoach the really good ones.

I guess I will be in a wait and see mode of thinking.

by **dbrown4** Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:11 pm

I was watching the Knicks v. Warriors game last night on TNT. I know it's a small sample space, but IMHBAO, THAT's what I'm looking for from our team when everything gets lined up with RWIII. Final score 132-94. That's the gap I'm looking for. Every game. Total domination. Total devastation. The Celtics were/are well on their way even before RWIII's return. He was just going to be the icing on the cake. Defense across the league is being talked about more and more. We're seeing better defense, at least the teams we're playing are showing it. That's how you slow good teams down.

We were playing consistently good games where the TEAM was 50/40/90 for the game or very near it each time out. It ain't that hard to get back to that. Just don't lead with the 3. Make it an afterthought and THEN ram it down their throats. Nothing ruins a beautifully played game with great Bird-like passing, cutting, picking, double/triple screens, back-down dunks like bricking up a shopping mall from deep. The rule of thumb should be if 3 shots in a row don't fall from deep, run 10 more plays down the lane and/or mid-range. I know, very drastic but you get my point. But the 3-droughts have to stop. This team is good enough from 3-ville that if they don't make a shot pretty quickly and consistently from 3, go to all your other weapons. Go back to being random. It's fool proof, trust me. I've watched enough basketball to know that I've never seen anything like what I'm seeing. And to steer from it even slightly is highway robbery to us the fans. Yes there are a few wrinkles that need ironing out, but this offense is unique and absolutely devastating when full throttle, with or without RWIII.

But tonight we need a wake the Hell up game just to make sure we haven't lost sight of what we've got. It's all between the ears right now.

db

by Sponsored content

Pre-Game Pacers

Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers

Re: Pre-Game Pacers